The present invention concerns a process for manufacturing low fat sausages which comprises preparing a meat batter comprising meat, added fat, ice and nitrite curing salt in such proportions that it has a fat content of from 1 to 20%.
German Patent Application No. DE 3344521 discloses a process and an apparatus comprising a cutter for the manufacture of meat batter in which liquid nitrogen is intermittently sprayed onto the rotating blades of the cutter to counteract the heat produced by operating friction. This process appears to have a positive influence on the organoleptical properties, the aspect and the keeping properties of the otherwise traditional sausages made of this batter. This patent does not suggest that this process and apparatus could be useful for the manufacture of low fat sausages.
Traditional finely comminuted cooked meat sausage products comprise about 40 to 50% lean meat, 25 to 35% added fat and 20 to 30% water. A simple approach for the fat reduction is the change of formulation of sausage products. Instead of added fat, one can use more meat and ice. However, such a reduction of the amount of added fat may lessen the water binding in the sausage product by way of a strong shrinkage of protein matrices during heat treatment due to a poor distribution of fat particles in these matrices, an increased water content due to the substitution of meat and water for fat, and a lower ionic strength in the aqueous phase.
A known way for recovering a good water binding in such sausage products is to use fat substitutes or binders such as protein or carbohydrate based substitutes or synthetic compounds. However, fat substitutes are not always as much appreciated as natural fats and binders can affect the organoleptical properties of the sausage products.